Weather Or Not
by jc1424
Summary: Mordecai is getting worn out from work and not enough sleep. To make it worse, he can't stop worrying if Margaret has been okay for the past month, ever since she let out the truth about still having feelings for him.
1. Sidetraction

Mordecai had rested his head in his palm with his elbow propped on the table. The setting was becoming unknown to him as he was beginning to doze off. His eyes already shut, his mind _slipping away..._

"Tired, Mordo?" It was a female voice.

Mordecai immediately sat back up, then regained awareness of reality as his eyes adjusted once more.

He and Rigby were at Coffee Shop and it was about 6:30 A.M. The inquiry had come from Eileen, who was placing his fresh cup of coffee on the table. Rigby was aside her, sitting back in the chair opposite him, drinking his cup of jo. Mordecai pulled the cup she gave him towards him, just to let the warmth touch his face, and for the smell to be endurable. He sighed before saying, "Yeah. I didn't really think about it when I decided to stay up late to watch Sham Pag Knee, a parody of one of those old movies were a woman dates like 20 guys, trying to find the right one. I knew it was Sunday, but I really wanted to make it to the end." Mordecai began to sip his coffee and set the mood. "She was like 'Hm... now that I think about it, that first guy was pretty nice.'"

"I've got to see that one. I'm pretty sure Margaret would, too."

"Ughhhhh, Mordecai I can't _believe_ you actually watched that entire movie!", Rigby nagged.

Mordecai rolled his eyes. "Speaking of Margaret, how has she been doing Eileen?"

"Well..." Eileen began fidgeting. "There really isn't much I can say... News reports... We hang out every day after work, for a while,... to talk and watch TV."

Mordecai could tell immediately that she and Margaret had some sort of agreement regarding what Eileen could say about her. He honestly needed to know. She was his friend and he unwillingly cared about her. Regardless of what he had been through because of her, it would feel twice as wrong if she felt anything close to what he did when she left him for college. There was no way he could _ever_ seek vengeance upon her, and CJ did not apply to his developed friendship with her. He literally, unintentionally developed it trying to be _more_ than friends. The three remained silent for minutes, and Mordecai watched Eileen as she stared off into space, thinking.

"Well, more customers are gonna be coming in soon, so I'd better get to making some more coffee. I'll see you guys later."

Mordecai and Rigby both just made audible sounds in reply. They were both done with their coffee and Benson would be expecting them at the park soon, so they could crack down on the schedule for the day. Even after Mordecai had his cup of coffee, he still felt tired and sore. He is actually used to being sore because he physically puts his body through work, six days of the week. Now that he has missed out on hours of sleep, he can see a rough day ahead of him, as if the day being a Monday did not make it hard enough. His mind continued to black out as he became lost in his thoughts repeatedly. Next thing he new, Benson was giving them their jobs. He came to just in time to here what he had to say.

"... I need you to both plant some trees being delivered by the gate entrance.", Benson said. "It should only take you about three or four hours..."

Mordecai and Rigby simultaneously groaned with every decibel their throats could possibly give.

"When you're about halfway done,", Benson yelled to began again, "see me for lunch. I'm getting everyone 'state-of-the-art' BLT's."

They then both gave a facial 'meh'.

"Mordecai, when you guys are done, I need you to buy groceries for the house. The shopping list is on the counter in the kitchen."

"Aw, what!? Bensonnn,... why can't you get Rigby to do that one?"

"Well, for one, you're a lot more responsible than he is, and two, he STILL DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE!"

"Yeah,", Rigby commented, "and since when do you ask Benson if he can make me do things for you?"

"Since I'm very tired and figured for once you could do me a solid without me even asking you to, because you're my best friend!"

"Sheesh... this one's on you, though. I told you not to watch that dumb movie, but you just kept on-" Rigby was cut off by a tired punch in the arm, but it still hurt a bit.

"I DON'T CARE WHO'S RIGHT IN YOUR STUPID ARGUMENT!", Benson snapped. "JUST GET IT DONE OR YOUR BOTH FIRED!" With that being the last of the work on the schedule, Benson stormed inside and the others were already off to work. Mordecai and Rigby got up and sat in the cart, heading to the park entrance to start planting trees. Rigby continued to look at him, practically reading his mind by looking at his face.

"I'm sorry, Mordecai. I just... I was just playing around with you, you know? I didn't know it's been putting you down so much."

"Hmm.", Mordecai sheepishly replied. Rigby stared for just a little bit more.

"Dude,... this isn't really about how much sleep you got last night, is it?"

Mordecai released some of the pressure he was putting on himself as he sighed and confirmed, "No."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No..."

"Well,... do you need to?" A long period silence followed.

"Yeah..."

Rigby took the time to put himself into a more considerate attitude. Rigby knew what this was all about. _Of all the things that have gotten Mordecai this stressed out before, it was never because of him being worried about someone else, at least not_ _her_ _._ He was irritated, distracted, and tired and it was merely a Monday. For him, this was going to be a long day.


	2. What Am I Gonna Do?

Mordecai and Rigby had a couple trees loaded into the back of the cart and were heading back to the preserved area set for the trees they intended to plant.

"So...", Rigby tried to begin, "are you... just... thinking about her again... or something?"

Mordecai sighed. "Yeah but,... just not in the way I used to."

Rigby squinted a little at the statement. He was clueless to exactly what Mordecai meant. "So what? Is she just not that kind of jaw-dropper she was when you first saw her, dude?"

"Well,...", Mordecai began to smirk, "no. She still is to me, but I became used to the way she stands out a long time ago. It's just that... I actually... care about her, now."

Rigby went dumb at that sentence. "Are you saying that you never cared about her before?"

"No, no! What I mean is... I'm more worried... and concerned about how she's doing then I ever was before."

As the two got out of the cart, Rigby began to frustrate his brain on what Mordecai just said. _So, does he feel a need to take advantage of the fact that she feels that way about him?_ Rigby would not dare ask the question; that would obviously be very offensive. _Maybe I can_ manipulate _the question..._ "Are you sure that you don't just feel this way _because_ Margaret admitted she does, now?" _Meh... sounded better in my head._

Mordecai immediately rolled his eyes, for he knew Rigby would unwillingly wind up asking a question as such eventually; by now he wonders if Rigby even realizes it when a question is offensive, considering they have become quite redundant. Regardless, Mordecai was thinking about the answer. _It's a bad good question..._

"Rigby,... I've known her for a very long time. It's certainly not the _craziest_ thing in the world for her to just be... a part of who I am, now."

"Well, I just think it's a miracle I've been able to follow all of this. Heh, it'd give me a headache!"

"And that's kinda what I've got right now.", Mordecai said quite hysterically.

"I don't think Margaret has much to do with it, though."

"It _was_ a pretty awesome movie, dude."

"Ugh! STOP TALKING!"

* * *

After planting what were approximately twenty trees, the hours of work and near stroke Mordecai almost had paid off; big burgers were coming their way. Sitting in the shade of the cart was all the two could do. Sadly, at the poor angle the cart was parked, the sun shined down over a quarter of the seat. Mordecai and Rigby fought like wimps to stay out of the burning sunlight. Benson had already told Mordecai that the food was on the way, but as far as he was concerned that was a century ago.

"Doo... doo... dude?", Mordecai stuttered.

"Dada, you called me hoohoo."

"Whaterver, dude I hate this day!"

"I hate the whole workweek, dude."

"Ugh...", they both whined simultaneously.

Suddenly, they could hear rain pitter-pattering the ground somewhere in the distance. Their ears adjusted to and focused on that sound, as it got closer and closer. Smiles began to form on their faces and they anticipated the arrival of sweet precipitation... only to discover it was just the sound of Benson's tires crawling through the gravel road of the park. His long, black, lemon of a car came to a stop, feet from the cart. It may not have been weather, but this was going to be good enough.

"Well, well, well... I see the 'slackers' have been quite out of character today, if ya know what I mean... hehe.", Benson laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, just give us the boogers!", Rigby griped.

"Huhuh, yeah, big boogers.", Mordecai goofed at him.

"Okay... okay... here you go.", the gumball machine replied. "You guys are so immature, I swear!"

"Well," started Mordecai, "if you're swearing, I'd say you don't have to worry about breaking that promise, then."

"Hmm. Hmm.", said the two burger-boys. They ate their lunch like cavemen, with condiments decorating their faces. Benson felt awkward watching them devour their meals, so he just rolled his eyes, got in his car, and drove back to the house.

Mordecai and Rigby were not exactly making mealtime last, but it was not _their_ fault the food was so satisfying; they could barely hold back the hunger.

By the time the BLT's were finished, it was just as hard to continue working as it was before; Mordecai and Rigby were completely stuffed. They had to lie back for a few minutes to overcome their aching stomachs. In that time Rigby attempted to bring back the topic of Mordecai's 'worries' for Margaret.

"So...", Rigby tried to start.

Mordecai knew he intended to say something, but his pause was wasting the time he should have been using to say it. "Well, if that was all you were gonna say, then I guess I'll have to say no, Rigby, I don't sew."

"Heh, no. I just want to ask what you're gonna do to get in touch with... uh... um..."

"Dude, it's not like you're not allowed to say her name in front of me or something, sheesh. And,... you and Eileen still... talk, right?"

"Yeah. She also told me that we can get back into that relationship if I'm at least more willing to do the stuff that she's interested in with her. Dude, why don't you just call Margaret yourself?"

"I just don't know how to ask about her feelings without making it awkward, Rigby."

"Ugh... Mordecai, you are like... the king of awkward! It is what it is, dude. Your gonna have to talk through the awkwardness of the situation, bro. There's no _right_ way to do it with somebody else's help."

"I don't know how to... approach the situation, Rigby."

"Ugh Mordecai, you just gotta take baby steps. You count one... two... three... and then, you... JUST DO IT!"

Mordecai knew the advice was good, but he also knew where it came from, so he merely rolled his eyes in reply. The two then got back to work.


	3. Good

After returning to another three hours of work, all of the trees had been planted. Luckily, the temperature oddly dropped twenty degrees within half an hour after Mordecai and Rigby had eaten their lunches.

"When was the last time you and I talked about the weather, Mordo?", Rigby asked.

"Uuuugh!", he moaned in reply. "The weather is so boring! That's why it's the one thing we don't talk about, Rigby!"

"Well, how do you know that the clouds didn't block the sun just for us?"

"Hmm. Hmm. Well, _thank you_ clouds!", Mordecai said with a smirk. He then turned the keys in the ignition toward the engine, and the cart began to hum once again. They had the shovels in the back of the cart as they rode their way back to the house.

"Don't forget dude: Benson wants you go to the grocery store to get some milk before we play some _War Stars!_ "

"Of course I remember, and how can you only remember something you weren't told to do, Rigby!?"

Rigby simply shrugged in reply as if he could not defend himself on those grounds.

Mordecai struggled to keep his heavy eyelids open, as he turned the cart left and right along the path leading to the park house. Eventually he wound up yawning so loud, Rigby nearly forgot he was _not_ sitting next to a humpback whale.

"Geez, dude!", Rigby started. "Maybe after you get the milk from the store, we should... uh... _not_ play War Stars for the rest of the night..."

"Naaah, I'll dig up some change from my jacket, and get me a coffee while I'm out." The conversation was helping keep Mordecai awake. Seconds later, he was driving the cart into the garage. The two removed the shovels from the trunk, and placed them with the rest of Pops' gardening equipment. They walked up the stairs to confirm with Benson they had gotten their jobs done.

"And Mordecai-", Benson almost finished.

"Yeah, I'm going to the store now...", Mordecai told him. He grabbed his jacket and got back in the cart. The drive to the grocery store would take approximately ten minutes.

* * *

Mordecai pulled into the parking lot, and parked the cart within the shadows of some small trees to avoid being taunted by the immature for simply using the cart. The only disadvantage would be having to walk quite a distance to get to the store's entrance. While stepping into the marketplace, he placed his hands in the pockets of his jacket... to find they were both empty. He instantly facepalmed. All he had was the cash Benson gave him in his hand. _I could've sworn I had money left from that baseball game me and C- WHATEVER! I can't just let Rigby down and not play video games with him tonight... I'll... manage... somehow._ He headed toward the dairy isle.

* * *

Rigby had the remote in his hand and was flipping through the afternoon television programs. Though, he could not pay attention to the screen very well because he was weighed down with guilt. Rigby had stolen the change from Mordecai's jacket a week ago so he could buy himself a soda from the snack bar. Now, Mordecai intended to use that change to buy a coffee. _Well, if I insisted he get some sleep, he might've been on to me!_ (Typical Rigby)

* * *

Mordecai considered for a split second getting the smaller jug of milk, so he could afford both milk and a small cup of coffee. _Benson would explode if I came home with a lamesized milk jug! Well,... maybe I could convince Eileen to buy me a cup at The Coffee Shop... I could pay her back later! YES!_ He picked up a gallon of milk and turned to walk back to the checkout isle. As he turned a corner quite sharp, the milk he held before him crashed into someone coming in the opposite direction. The jug was so cold, the lady yelped a brief scream due to its surprising near-freezing temperature. Mordecai stopped in the middle of his immediate apology, realizing the person he had collided with was none other than Margaret. She giggled following the incident, but her eyes quickly went wide once she noticed it was him.

"Uh... hi?", Mordecai suggested.

"Well,... um... that's not really a _question,_ you know?", she humorously attempted.

"Oh... well, I'm... sorry about the... the milk, and... the walking-into." If he could have facepalmed without her seeing, he most definitely would have.

"Yeah, ha ha it's okay."

Mordecai then became aware of her unusual apparel. She was wearing a white long-sleeve with a loosened tie and navy blue skirt. The sleeves of her shirt were rolled up twice. She also now had a damp mark on her shirt because of the defrosting jug. His eyebrows expressed his wondering of the peculiar outfit.

"Oh um... I finished my report earlier, and you know... clothes a little uncomfortable."

"Oh, I see. So, how've you been?"

"Fine."

But, Mordecai was smart enough to know that word was not true to its sentence; it hardly ever was. "Well,... that doesn't really sound... good enough."

"It's... good enough... for me.", she tried laughing.

"It doesn't really make much sense for 'fine' to be 'good enough', when 'good' is... better than 'fine'."

"So,... what are you trying to say, then?"

 _Uh... whoops._ Margaret began to sound irritated. Something was keeping him from pulling a Mordecai and telling her the gallon of milk was getting cold, and that he should be heading home.

"I'm trying to say...", Mordecai began to answer. It took him several seconds to get the words out. "I'm trying to say that I've been... very worried... about you."

She sighed. "And, why is that?"

"I haven't heard from you since... Muscle Man and Scarla's wedding, you said you might still have... feelings for me, and I care about you."

"Well, to be honest, you're frequently on my mind, Mordecai. At the same time, I feel guilty; I can't help but believe that I ruined your relationship with CJ."

"Heh, maybe you did,... maybe you didn't; either way, you still mean _something_ to me."

Margaret just looked at him with a smile, happy that he was actually her friend. She was happy to have him there like she did. All along she was afraid he was angry with her, and shamed herself because of how she returned into his life; she felt as if she had merely gotten in the way of his relationship. And now, everything changed and Margaret began to believe they needed to be a part of each others' lives again.

Mordecai helped her finish her shopping, and the two spent the next fifteen minutes basically talking about work and some new movies.

"In a few months," Mordecai informed her, "there is a movie coming out, based on a cool video game I used to play sometimes."

"Heh, I bet you intend to see that with Rigby. What's the name of the game?"

" _Ratchet & Clank._"

"Sounds like an edge-of-the-seat deal!"

"Yeah... can't wait."

As Mordecai walked her to her car, they ended the conversation with Mordecai's evening plans with Rigby. He helped Margaret put her bags in the trunk.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, then?", Mordecai stated.

"Uh..." She really did not want to be saying a goodbye right now. "Mmhm."

"Are you gonna be okay?" _Geez_ , _I'm so insecure about... her being insecure. What?_ Margaret edged toward him and hugged him tightly. Mordecai was not surprised that she did it, but for how wonderful it felt. He closed his arms around her just the same.

"No...", she began to answer. "I'll be... good."

She then got in her car as Mordecai headed back to the cart with a dripping-wet jug of milk in his hands. As he put the jug beneath his seat and turned the vehicle on, he noticed the word 'HOTROD' sprayed on the hood. " _So much_ repsect.", he sighed.


End file.
